Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1887-01-28

The plaintiffs motion for a new tria
in Howard and Danforth VS.. Bean was
denied. 1t was argued by Eldredge &
Sade for the plaintiffs and by w. H..
Bliss for the defendant.
The petitioners motion, in Maynard VS..
Maynard, divorce, that the petition be
dismissed without prejudice, was de-
MED.
Smell VS.. Supernau was continued.
In State VS.. John c. Flint arguments
continued till Friday night. Mr.. Bliss
opened for the State and was followed
by Messrs. Plumley and Ballard for the
defense, States Attorney Wilds closing.
Saturday morning the charge was given.
At about two o'clock the jury came in
for light with respect to some of the tes-
timony and it was read to them; but at
little past three they appeared and an
nounced that they were unable to agree,
when they were discharged. 1t is under
stood that three of them were for convic-
ton, though on the first ballot they stood
four for conviction to eight for acquittal.
As this was a remarkable case in some of
its aspects, it seems to be worth while to
review it at length. On the evening of
the 9th of June, 1884, a bright moonlight
night, James Welch, a feeble old man of
more than four-score, who was living
alone in small house little over mile
from Hancock village, was robbed. Two
masked men, between the hours of ten
and eleven, burst open his door, throttled
him upon his bed, and took from the
pocket of his pantaloons, which were on
him, a wallet containing S95 in money
besides valuable papers. The old man
was probably some hours unconscious, las
he did not get out to give the alarm until
daylight next morning, when he aroused
his neghbors, who at once set about
tracing out the perpetrators of the crime.
The tracks of two persons through the
grass from the direction of Hancock vii
were discovered, and it was observed that
they were made before the dew fell the
previous night. 1t appeared that the
evening had been windy and no dew fell
in the early part of the night, so that it
was evident that the job was done before
midnight. 1t was learned that man an
swering to the description of John c.
Flint had passed the Hancock hotel going
toward his home from the direction of
Welch's between eleven and twelve
o'clock; that Flint, who was 30 years old,
and Charles F. Blair, boy of 20, had
been fishing together the day before the
robbery. and had been seen in close con-
ference in the hotel kitchen between nine
and ten o'clock in the evening, soon after
which they disappeared; that Flint, who
was an impecunious loafer, got bill
changed at an obscure place below Han
cock very early the next morning and
used the proceeds with considerable free
dom: also, that Flint and Blair seemed to
avoid each other and to be very reticent
on the subject of the robbery. Upon
this evidence warrants were issued for
the arrest of Flint and Blair and for the
search of the houses in which they lived :;
and they were arrested on the Tuesday
following the robbery, which was on
Friday, and the wallet and $50 in money
were found in Blair's possession. He
thereupon broke down and made full
and circumstantial confession, which he
gave under oath as a witness on the eX-
animation of Flint the Thursday follow
ing. His testimony was, that the rob-
berry was partly planned between him
and Flint while fishing; that the plan
was completed when they met in the no
tel kitchen; that they left the hotel sep
arately about ten o'clock, met in the pas
ture back of the house, hurried up to
Welch's, put on their masks of black
cloth which were furnished by Flint,
robbed the old man, hurried back to the
place of meeting, dividing the spoils on
their way, and then separated, Blair 60
Flint going down the road toward the no.
el,whch he would have to pass in going
to his fathers house. This statement.
upon both trials here, Blair has reiterat-
ed Enthusiastically with the utmost
clearness and with 10 material variation
except some trifling differences in respect
to time, although subjected by Mr.. Bal
lard to long and merciless cross-eXamin-
ations. After the examination at Han
cock both the prisoners were put in Jail
here, where they remained - days, when
Flint secured bail, the sum being $500
two brothers of his mother becoming his
bondsmen. While in Jail together Flint
and Blair were on the best of terms. \
letter written to friend by Flint at that
time mentioned "Charley" in the kindest
manner and expresses great concern for
his health-a very remarkable expression
to come from "A man concerning the npr-